This work falls within the scope of computer-aided optimal design, and aims to integrate the topology optimization procedures and recent additive manufacturing technologies (AM). The elimination of scaffold supports at the topology optimization stage has been recognized and pursued by many authors recently. The present paper focuses on implementing a novel and specific overhang constraint that is introduced inside the topology optimization problem formulation along with the regular volume constraint. The proposed procedure joins the design and manufacturing processes into a integrated workflow where any component can directly be manufactured with no requirement of any sacrificial support material right after the topology optimization process. The overhang constraint presented in this work is defined by the maximum allowable inclination angle, where the inclination of any member is computed by the Smallest Univalue Segment Assimilating Nucleus (SUSAN), an edge detection algorithm developed in the field of image analysis and processing. Numerical results on some benchmark examples, along with the numerical performances of the proposed method, are introduced to demonstrate the capacities of the presented approach.

This paper presents the Matlab implementation of the Sequential Element Rejection and Admission (SERA) method for topology optimization of structures and compliant mechanisms. The lines comprising this code include definition of design domain, finite element analysis, sensitivity analysis, mesh-independency filter, optimization algorithm and display of results. Extensions and changes in the algorithm are also included in order to solve multiple load cases, active and passive elements and compliant mechanisms design. The code is intended for educational purposes and introduces an alternative approach to traditional structural topology optimization algorithms. The complete code is provided in the Appendix .